Question:
How can the Olympic motto — Faster, Higher, Stronger — apply
to faith?
Answer: Spirituality in the
world’s great religions is lived out in a variety of styles. These
styles I view as being complimentary, not in conflict. The style of
spirituality suggested to me in applying the Olympic motto to the life
of faith would be a “spirituality of striving”. In secular terms, the
slogan corresponds to “Try harder”, or to the school room admonition,
“If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.”
I am not sure how a spirituality of striving coexists exactly with the
virtue of detachment , a virtue that also rates very high on the scale
of Bahá’í spiritual values. But suffice it to say that believers need
to strive and to be detached at the same time, although perhaps not in
the same moment. The Bahá’í writings are full of admonitions that
reflect a spirituality of striving. We find such exhortations in our
sacred writings expressed in words such as “strive”, “advance”,
“attain” “be”.
Here are two examples from among many from the writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
(1844-1921), the son and successor of the Prophet-Founder, Bahá’u’lláh
(1817-1892): “O ye beloved of the Lord! Strive to become the
manifestations of the love of God, the lamps of divine guidance shining
amongst the kindreds of the earth with the light of love and concord”
(Selections, p. 28). ‘Abdu’l-Bahá asked that this message be conveyed
to two prisoners in San Quentin: “Convey on my behalf to the two
prisoners in San Quentin the utmost kindness, and tell them: ‘That
prison in the sight of wise souls is a school of training and
development. Ye must strive with heart and soul that ye may become
renowned in character and knowledge’ (Selections, p. 116).
In short, Bahá’ís, like all sincere followers of faith, strive daily to
improve their individual spiritual lives, and to contribute to
community development, both within and without theBahá’í Faith, and to
collaborate with any like-minded individuals and groups in the
promotion of the unity of humanity and world peace. -
Jack
McLean
